Carrie Underwood – Before He Cheats

Who hasn’t heard of that blonde-haired Oklahoman who won the fourth season of American Idol?  Carrie Underwood has enjoyed a prolific two decade career, complete with product endorsements, acting gigs, awards galore, and some occasional singing along the way.

Amazingly, she’s released a mere nine albums, including:

• Some Hearts (2005)
• Carnival Ride (2007)
• Play On (2009)
• Blown Away (2012)
• Storyteller (2015)
• Cry Pretty (2018)
• My Gift (2020)
• My Savior (2021)
• Denim & Rhinestones (2022)

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Carrie-underwood-before-he-cheats-lyrics.

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1. What message does the song communicate?

Underwood believes that she was dating a man who cheated on her with a younger woman.  She doubled down on this belief by destroying his car.  However, she is too drunk to realize that she hit on a married man.  Not that he is completely innocent.  He should have turned Underwood down instead of leading her on.  While the song doesn’t tell us how far him and Underwood took things, apparently it was far enough to compel her to get even.

This begs a few questions about his wife.  Did her tell her that he cheated on her?  Did she forgive him?  I have no idea.  All we have to go on are the ramblings, articulate as they may be, of a drunken, angry, bitter blonde.  It would be nice to hear from his perspective, but that is unavailable to us.  So is the booze.  Underwood drank it all and didn’t leave us with any, which will cost her all the points.

Score: 0/10

2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?

While some of the man’s actions can be explained Scripturally, Underwood’s underhanded tactics are far from Biblical.

[Verse 1]

Lines 1-3: Of course he is!  That “tramp” is his wife.  Wives should be getting frisky with their husbands instead of depriving them (1 Corinthians 7:5).  Ironically, Underwood is probably too drunk on whiskey to realize that she is a homewrecker.

Lines 4 and 5: Or maybe her man doesn’t want to place a stumbling block in front of her (Romans 14:13-23)?

Lines 6 and 7: She must be pretty good at pool to be interested in learning how to shoot a combo!  I think Underwood is jealous of her talent.  Her envy rots her (Proverbs 14:30).

Line 8: Correction: Underwood is too inebriated to realize that she’s the problem, not the man.  She should be filled with the Spirit, not alcohol (Ephesians 5:18).

[Chorus]

Lines 1-6: Underwood is taking vengeance for no reason.  Besides, even if she was righteous, she should have let the Lord repay, not her (Leviticus 19:18 and Romans 12:19). This isn’t the only time that Underwood came onto a man amid her drunken state, damaging her credibility.

[Verse 2]

Lines 1 and 2: That is, Shania Twain.  I’ll give Underwood this one.  The man’s wife is not as good of a singer as Underwood is.

Line 3 and 4: Underwood is projecting.  Apparently he took advantage of Underwood’s vulnerable state.  She wouldn’t have mentioned it otherwise.

Lines 5 and 6: That is, cheap cologne purchased inside the men’s bathroom.

Line 7: Repeats Verse 1, line 8.

[Bridge]

Lines 1-3: This is probably true.  Maybe this will teach him not to cheat on his wife.

Line 4: Essentially repeats line 3.

[Outro]

Lines 1-3: Essentially repeats the last line of Chorus alongside whispers of Casper the friendly ghost.

Score: 3/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

They think this song is about a man who cheated on Underwood, not realizing that she spoiled a perfectly happy and flourishing marriage between a man and his wife.  She is the Proverbs 9 woman of folly, whose enticing charm plucked him straight into the depths of Gehenna unless he repents and trusts in Jesus.  Though there is also the incentive to pass go and collect $200 to consider.

Score: 0/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies debauchery, vandalism, wild imagination, expert pool shooting, bad singing, marital luckiness, knockoff smells, and especially baseball bats.  Specifically, the Louisville Slugger.  That’s worth about six points.

Score: 8/10

Closing Comments

Carrie Underwood’s Before He Cheats is decisively unbiblical, but not for the reasons you thought.  Sure, we all know that whacking a man’s light, scratching his door, knifing his seats, and letting air out of his tires are unbecoming of a woman who claims to follow Christ.  However, underneath her carefully crafted façade are statements of self-incrimination.  She admits to drinking whisky in her complaint that this “bleached-blonde tramp” can’t do it.  She proclaims her loose morals by imagining him “getting lucky” with another girl.  She confesses her terrible singing…ok maybe that one isn’t a projection.  However, she doesn’t even know her last name because she got married mid-inebriation.  How can we trust the testimony of the town drunk?  Still, the man isn’t completely innocent either.  The two probably slept together.  I wonder how his wife took the news?

The only real winner here is the bathroom Polo.  Man even the cheap stuff smells good.

Final Score: E/10

Artist Info

Track: Before He Cheats (listen to the song)

Artist: Carrie Underwood

Album: Some Hearts

Genre: Country

Release Year: 2005

Duration: 3:18

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